The Bengals punted on a 4th-and-6 on their 44.
The NYT 4th Down bot concurs, although going for it would have been fine, too.

If you disagree

I lean slightly towards punting, but I don’t have strong feelings here – my numbers tell me that either punting or going for it could be the best play. Specifically, going for it would be the right call if you think the Bengals’ chances of converting on fourth down are greater than 51 percent. (Based on my analysis, I’d give the Bengals a 40 percent chance to get a first down here.)

Here's the full breakdown of my calculations:

Option

Chance of converting

Chance of winning

Before play

After play

Change

Punt

95%

95%

-

Go for it4th and 6, own 44

40%

95%

95%

-

Field goal try73 yard kick (est.)

<1%

95%

93%

–2%

My decision in context

Along with some circuitry to come up with a win probability for every game situation, all you need to figure out what you should do next is an estimate of how likely you are to make a field goal or convert a first down.

My estimates for these are based on the results of thousands of similar plays, but you may think you're smarter than I am. This chart shows you how changing those estimates would change my recommendation.

What to do on 4th-and-6 on own 44

Up by 13 with 3:12 remaining in the 4th quarter

What coaches usually do

Punt

98% of the time

Go for it

2% of the time

Field goal try

-

Based on about 1,157 fourth downs in similar situations since 2001.

What happened

Kevin Huber punts for 52 yards to Buf4.

Where did these numbers come from?

To estimate a team’s chances of winning, I use a mathematical model that accounts for a whole lot of variables — including the difference in score, the time remaining in the game, and the number of timeouts each team has left. On top of that, I have models for the likelihood that a team makes a field goal and the likelihood that it will convert a first down.

By combining all of this information, I can come up with the best decision a team can make, according to math.

If you want even more details about the numbers behind my decisions, my full model is available on GitHub. Help make me better!